KOCHI: While the three political fronts have embarked on an intense campaign for the Thrikkakara bypoll which is slated to be held on May 31, the expectations of IT professionals are high on the development of infrastructure at Infopark, a major IT hub located in the constituency. Employing about 50,000 techies on its campus in Kakkanad, the Infopark still lacks basic infrastructure issues such as good roads, transport connectivity and leisure hubs, according to the employees.
Widening of Seaport-Airport Road to national highway standards, renovation of Padamugal-Infopark Road, extension of Water Metro and boat services and enhancing lifestyle ecosystem of IT employees are the need of the hour, they added. The road to Infopark from Palarivattom is witnessing heavy traffic snarl-ups during peak hours even though 80 per cent of employees are still working from home.
Ashik C Sreenivasan, state joint coordinator of Prathidhwani Kerala, a welfare organisation for IT employees, who works at Infopark, feels that the people’s representatives of Thrikkakara have not taken any steps for the development of infrastructure despite the initiatives launched by the state government. “With the byelection, Infopark is in the limelight again.
There is Water Metro but no feeder services. In the case of buses also one can reach Infopark after taking other options from Kakkanad,” said Ashik. A general perception is that techies are apolitical. However, a majority of them have their own strong political views and were actively involved in student politics during their studies, he added.
Eldho Chirackachalil, an IT employee at Infopark, said they hope for a fast pace in providing employment opportunities and speedy completion of extension of Kochi Metro to Kakkanad. “The access to the city via road is pathetic and the current development works are moving at a slow pace. Besides, the projects launched for providing employment opportunities should achieve their objectives. For example, the Smart City, which intended to provide 10 lakh job opportunities in 10 years, could provide only below 5000 opportunities. Moreover, only small companies have started operations there. This situation should be changed,” he added.